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50 Kronen Theresienstadt Concentration Camp
| Issuer | Der Älteste der Juden in Theresienstadt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | QUITTUNG ÜBER FÜNFZIG KRONEN 50 WER DIESE QUITTUNG VERFÄLSCHT ODER NAHMACHT ODER GEFÄLSCHTE QUITTUNGEN IN VERKEHT BRINGT, WIRD STRENGSTENS BESTRAFT. (Translation: Receipt of Fifty Kronen, Who false or replace this receipt or brought forged receipts, will be highly punished.) |
| Reverse description | The obverse presents a fine guilloche underprint in blue-teal with a central vignette of Moses carrying the Tablets of the Law, flanked by a Star of David. The anti-counterfeiting warning inscription runs across the lower portion of the note in small letterpress type. |
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| Comments |
The Theresienstadt ghetto scrip was created not as a functioning currency but as a tool of Nazi propaganda — specifically to deceive International Red Cross inspectors into believing the camp operated as a self-governing Jewish settlement with a normal economic life. The notes were printed within the camp itself, designed by Peter Kien, a Prague-born artist and poet who was deported to Theresienstadt in 1941 and murdered at Auschwitz in October 1944.
Jakob Edelstein, whose signature appears as issuing authority, was the first "Elder of the Jews" at Theresienstadt. He was shot at Auschwitz-Birkenau in June 1944, after being forced to watch the executions of his wife and son.
The scrip had no purchasing power outside the camp and negligible practical use within it. It could not be exchanged for food or goods in any meaningful quantity.